Posts tagged Oscars

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards proved to be a historical one, with Kathryn Bigelow winning Best Director (The Hurt Locker), the first woman to ever win in that category. And the other milestone? Sandra Bullock won for Best Actress (The Blind Side), after picking up (in person) the Razzie Award for Worst Performance (All About Steve), becoming the first actor to ever win an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year.

I have to say I really enjoyed this year’s telecast. LOVED Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as co-hosts. They delivered some great lines (“He’s so high” about Woody Harrleson), and their chemistry is impeccable. I hope they come back next year. I also thought it was awesome that they did a special tribute to beloved director/writer/producer John Hughes. Although, what was up with Molly Ringwald’s eyes, hello. Was she nervous, or just over botoxed? Regardless, I thought it was cool that some of the Brat Pack showed up to pay their respects.

For the Best Actor/Actress categories, I liked that fellow actors with connections to the nominees lined up on stage and spoke about them. That was a nice, more intimate way to do it. I was really touched that Jeff Bridges got teary when Michelle Pfeiffer (Michelle, where the heck have you been?) talked about his career and his family. And of course, I’m so happy that he won. Talk about an amazing actor who was long overdue for an Oscar.

While we are on the subject, let’s discuss Sandra Bullock winning Best Actress…I haven’t seen The Blind Side yet, but I have seen many other Sandra Bullock movies. I’m a fan, and I think she’s totally capable of winning an Oscar. But I’m a bit surprised that she beat out Meryl Streep, Helen Mirren and Gabourey Sidibe this year. Her speech was great though, she really is a composed and compelling speaker. I’d hire her as a spokesperson any day.

The Hurt Locker won Best Picture…I think many people, including James Cameron, thought an Avatar win was in the bag. I think maybe even Kathryn Bigelow thought that too, given her nearly speechless speeches last night.

Anyway, congrats to all the winners (for the complete list go here)….here is a clip of Steve and Alec, followed by a highlights clip…

Hey, I almost forgot, the Oscar’s are this Sunday! Red carpet fashion disasters, significant others missing from acceptance speeches, overly-eager seat-fillers, oh the drama of it all!!

I just perused over this year’s nominees, and holy cow, I am way, way, way behind on my Oscar screenings. I’ve only seen Wall-e (up for a few awards), Tropic Thunder (best supporting actor, Downey Jr.) and The Dark Knight (best supporting actor, Ledger). All blockbusters; I completely flaked on all the uplifting/powerfully moving indies. What the hell is wrong with me??

(Oh, I don’t know…could it be that it costs $12+ to go to the freaking movies these days?!)

Well, regardless, let’s celebrate Oscar week anyway, with my picks for who will win…oh, and I’m only going to go with the actor/actress noms because that is all the patience I have AND they always have the most entertaining speeches. Everybody else just thanks a laundry list of film people that no one really knows/cares about. Anyway, here are my stellar predictions:

Best Actress: Winslet…this hot cookie is so way overdue for an Oscar win. Also, could be Melissa Leo (Frozen River) because the Academy likes to throw in a wild card every now and again and screw everybody up on their office Oscar pool.

Best Supporting Actress: My instinct is to go with Tomei but let’s be honest she plays the hooker with a heart of gold in like every film she’s ever been in. So, it’s going to be between the endearing Adams and the sassy Cruz.

Best Actor: Sean Penn because he’s the one everyone hates to love/loves to hate…or Mickey Rourke because Hollywood lives on comebacks.

Best Supporting Actor: Brolin–the guy is just good, and has shown such remarkable improvement since Goonies. But it will probably go to Ledger, who certainly deserves it, but will get it because the Academy feels guilty that they didn’t give it to him for Brokeback Mountain (and when he was alive).

BONUS ROUND–Best Film: Alright, you convinced me to give this one a shot, even though I haven’t seen ANY of the contenders. (Drumroll…)….I’m going to go with Slumdog Millionaire because…the title is awesome and…doesn’t star Angelina Jolie and/or Brad Pitt.